The invention is in the field of shaped detergents and relates to tablets containing surfactants, builders and disintegrants and which additionally comprise, as hand modifiers, proteins or protein derivatives.
On the market detergents are available which not only clean the laundry, but also impart a particularly soft feel to it. Such preparations, which are often referred to as soft detergents, usually comprise, as hand modifiers, cationic surfactants of the tetraalkylammonium compound type, mostly in combination with phyllosilicates. Said quaternary ammonium compounds are unsatisfactory with regard to their biodegradability, and it is also known that laundry treated therewith can cause irritations in very sensitive users. In addition, combination with anionic surfactants readily leads to undesired salt formation. For this reason there is vigorous interest in replacements which are free from these disadvantages.
One solution would be to replace the quaternary ammonium compounds with other cationic surfactants of the ester quat type. Although these are to be regarded as being significantly better with regard to their ecotoxicological compatibility and have even manifoldly superior hand modifying properties, they are only hydrolysis-resistant to a limited extent under the alkaline conditions of the washing process and are thus unsuitable as a true replacement.
Consequently, the object of the present invention was to provide novel shaped detergents, preferably in the form of tablets, which no longer give any cause for complaint with regard to their ecotoxicological compatibility and which are readily soluble under washing conditions, exhibit adequate chemical stability and, in particular, give the laundry an excellent soft feel.